Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Teacher Staffroom, where we catch you up on the latest evidence, insight, and action in education. I'm Dominique Russell.
This is our last episode of Teacher Staffroom for 2024, so we’re going to be looking ahead towards the beginning of the new year in relation to our latest content – we’ve got some leadership, research news and inclusive education stories to get through today, so certainly something for all of you listening, I’m sure.
Don’t forget, like all episodes of Teacher Staffroom, I’ll be posing some questions throughout this podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues, and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Let's jump in.
I’d like to kick off this episode by sharing a great clip from the latest episode in our School Assembly series – that’s the series where we follow a foundation principal of a new school during the development phase all the way up until their first few months of opening to students. This season we’ve been following Dan McShea at Notre Dame College in Queensland, and in the latest episode he spoke to us all about leading a new school, and one part that stuck out to me was where he spoke about his leadership style. Here’s Dan:
I really believe that good leadership is about being true to your values and being present to the people that you lead, however, certainly context and the challenges in front of you shape how you lead and what you prioritise and where you turn your attention. I think throughout my leadership journey, I've embraced my authentic self more and become less concerned with perceptions and more focused on what truly matters – our young people, their futures, our staff. And so, I'd probably describe my leadership style as relational, collaborative, I hope supportive. I want to empower my team and create an environment where people feel valued and heard.
It’s a quote that’s really stuck with me since the episode aired. So, if you’re a leader, or perhaps you’re going into a new leadership role next year, I’m sure the clip has given you something to reflect on for the next school year. However, here’s a question to help guide your thinking. How would you describe your own leadership philosophy to others? How does this play out in your own work, day-to-day?
Staying with the topic of leadership for the moment, and we also published an article recently looking at the findings from a new UNESCO report. It’s the latest GEM Report – which, if you’re unfamiliar, GEM stands for Global Education Monitoring – and it’s an annual report that has a different focus each year. Last year, actually, was on technology in education, and we spoke with the GEM Report Director in Episode 22 of our Global Education podcast series – so you can scroll down in our podcast feed to find that one to listen to next.
Anyway, this year’s report focused on leadership, and we published an article exploring some of the findings. There were insights gathered on so many things, for instance, a leader’s role in setting the school vision and how that differs around the world, and also other aspects of leadership, such as designing the curriculum, observing teacher practice, and leading professional development.
So, when looking at setting the school vision, the GEM report noted that some countries have regulations and guidance to support school principals in setting the vision, the values and the philosophy for their school. Some countries, however, expect the school vision to align with theory, research, and education trends or policy.
When it comes to designing the curriculum, the report shared that 96% of lower secondary principals say they choose which courses to offer, but only around half determine the actual content taught or the learning materials used. On staff collaboration, the report found that only half of the 211 education systems analysed require principals to promote teacher collaboration. However, it was also found that many countries do mandate principal-led staff evaluation and opportunities for staff improvement.
So, with all of that in mind, I have some questions for you to think about as a school principal and these could be particularly pertinent to you as you move into a new school year. Do you know what your staff want and expect from you as a principal? Do you seek feedback to better understand if you’re delivering on those expectations?
Another really important story we published (just this week, actually) is on the topic of supporting students on the autism spectrum. I wanted to highlight this story with you, because I know many of our listeners are always looking for more content in the area of inclusive education, and this also might be something that you’re looking at a bit more closely as you continue to plan for the new school year.
So, Teacher Editor Jo Earp spoke with Joanne Tisdell, Principal of Aspect South East Sydney School in a Q&A article. Joanne explained that Aspect provides one of the largest autism-specific education programs globally, and they currently have schools in New South Wales and South Australia.
It was a slightly longer Q&A than we usually publish, so there’s certainly plenty in there for you to go and read through and unpack – I encourage you to go to our website, to have a read when you have the time. Now, though, I’d like to highlight Joanne’s response to one question we asked her – which is how Aspect South East Sydney creates an inclusive culture where students feel a sense of safety and belonging. Joanne explained that the school utilises the Positive Behaviour Support model; they support educators to create inclusive classroom environments; and they collaborate with families. She also shared the details of the Inclusion Statement they created as an organisation, which was co-developed with Autistic staff. Here's a quote from Joanne:
In addition, Aspect as an organisation developed an Inclusion Statement to reinforce the value of a culture of inclusion and to clearly communicate this commitment – and we proudly display this statement in our school … The poster reads: “Aspect wants you to know that you are welcome to be your authentic self here without judgement. Please let us know if there is anything we can do that would make you feel more comfortable – for instance show you to a quiet area or provide an interpreter service. You are also welcome to use your own strategies to help you feel engaged and relaxed.”
So, that brings me to something for you to reflect on. How are you creating an inclusive culture in your own school, where every student feels a sense of safety and belonging? Are there any changes you’d like to make for the upcoming school year in this area?
Something else Teacher readers and listeners often ask us to cover in upcoming content is gifted and talented education. So, recently, we caught up with the winners of the inaugural ACER Advance Awards for Schools. The Advance Awards are for students in years 7 to 9 and it involve multi-choice tests to challenge high-achieving students to apply their knowledge and skills beyond the curriculum, in both Literacy and Numeracy.
The first winners have been named as The Essington School in the Northern Territory, who achieved the highest percentage of High Distinctions and the highest number of High Distinctions; and both Green Point Christian College and St Andrew’s College in New South Wales achieved the highest total number of Distinctions and above.
We spoke with staff from St Andrew’s College and Green Point Christian College about the positive impact of a challenge like this on student engagement and outcomes. Here’s what Sarah Brown, Director of Enrichment K-12 at Green Point Christian College, told us:
High potential learners can all too often reach a ceiling that limits their opportunity to engage in challenging activities. It is vital for such students to have regular exposure to stimulating and thought-provoking experiences to develop artistic learnership skills and problem-solving fortitude.
So, on the topic of gifted education, if you’re interested in potentially participating in the ACER Advance Awards next year, you’ll find all the links you need in our article. And, in the meantime, here are some questions for you to think about as you look ahead to the new year. How do you work to ensure that gifted learners in your class are given the appropriate level of challenge, and opportunities to display their knowledge and learning?
And finally, I wanted to squeeze in a quick chat about one final article from us on the topic of online safety with smartphones. So, in response to a 2022 report from the Australian eSafety Commissioner that found many young people engage in risky online behaviours, Charles Sturt University academics decided to investigate whether data shared by young people’s devices could be contributing to this.
They surveyed over 4,400 high school students in New South Wales about how they use their smartphones, what risks they perceive, and the concerns that they have. They were then provided with smartphone safety education to build their awareness of data privacy and the security risks associated with smartphone use – before completing the survey again.
So, what did they find? Well, students’ knowledge in the area increased, but unfortunately some students continued to engage in risky behaviours, even when they said they were aware of the risks.
In light of all this, we asked co-author Dr Julie Maclean what schools can do to help in this area. Here’s what she told us:
Schools play a critical role in fostering smartphone safety by integrating digital privacy education into the curriculum and promoting a culture of digital responsibility … Providing scenarios or simulations that illustrate data-sharing risks can help students connect these practices to real-world concerns.
So, some really interesting research findings there, and that brings me to a final few questions for you to consider. Have you used scenarios or simulations to illustrate data-sharing risks with your students? If not, how could you incorporate these kinds of activities to make real-world links for students?
Now, before I let you go, because we’ve been speaking about the start of the new school year throughout this episode, I wanted to alert your attention to an article we’ll be publishing in late January which outlines some significant themes and events for 2025, that you might want to factor into your lesson planning for the year. It’s always a hit with our readers, so to make sure you don’t miss it, be sure to sign up to receive our weekly Teacher bulletin via email. It’s free, and don’t worry, we won’t be bothering you over the Christmas break. You can find the sign-up button at our website, teachermagazine.com.
That’s all for this episode. Thanks for listening to Teacher Staffroom this year. I’ll leave the links to the full articles and podcast episodes I mentioned today in the transcript of this podcast episode, which you can find under the podcast tab at our website. We look forward to catching up with you again at the end of the month throughout 2025.
